Grandpa Ron and I have to laugh at this Heron who visits this boat more often than the real owner does. Here is his normal stakeout spot in the marina. Then I took a closer and closer photo. It is not like I have to be quick about it! He stays there for hours! We think he’s a Great Blue Heron. Can anyone confirm or correct us?

The bright yellow of the feeder and the chests of the finches are a perfect match! They are feeding during a snowstorm in Reno, NV yesterday, 3/19/11. All the birds are gathering at the feeders! Yes! More picture opportunities! 🙂

Just as Grandpa Ron and I were firing up our computers for a little office work around 8 pm this evening, we had a Quail Alert! Mama Quail was quickly leading about 20 baby quail across the vast expanse of our back patio while Papa Quail waited in the rear of the family to make sure that all were safe. We never saw so many babies with only 2 adults! I ran for my camera!

I quickly got two frenzied clips of the babies. Some stayed huddled on the warm patio facing the setting sun while most darted back and forth between the bird feeder and the huddled group on the patio. Then Mama seemed to look at me and said it was time to go! You will see her briefly toward the end of the clip. Then the babies started darting toward her. So I stopped filming. Then I caught them as they fled away!

Can you do a better job of counting them? How many babies are there?

This is the second video of the baby quail visiting the bird feeder with two adult quail at 8 pm on July 2, 2010 in Reno, NV. They scurried across the patio as fast as their little feet could move! They are so cute! RUN! Babies! RUN!!

More of my blogs mentioning and photographing quails and their babies are here.

Today I discovered this interesting article from National Wildlife Federation magazine called Top Spring Birding Spots. Yes, Spring has sprung –even if Reno is expecting snow tomorrow! Closer to home — We had fun this weekend watching the quail and house finches at the bird feeders. The cottontail bunny family was active, too. The baby is so cute! Kids love to look for birds. They learn so quickly what to look for, too! I have other blogs on this subject. Check here.

Birdwatchingnow.com is a great site to learn all about birdwatching. They blogged a great article about birdwatching as a family hobby. From birdwatchingnow.com: Bird watching is growing in popularity as a hobby that gets people outdoors and increases appreciation of nature, as well as being a great stress reliever. This blog will help you to be equiped with all you need to enjoy this great recreational pastime. Also, here is an article explaining the ten steps to identify a bird from the Duncraft.com Wild Bird Blog.

This morning we woke up to California Quail calls just outside our bedroom window. We started out watching several of the birds on the short wall but then we realized the real action was going on between the wall and the window. A whole family with teenagers were fluttering wings and scratching and flipping dirt like crazy. Five of the teenagers were in the hollow of sandy dirt by three small rocks. Dad stayed on the wall standing guard while Mom guarded the other direction. Three teenage females were scratching around the yucca while their 4 brothers and one sister did the dirt bath thing. Then two of the boys hopped onto a larger rock and pretended to be Dad and then played King of the Hill. The dad of this family has a double topknot and it looks like three boys all have double topknots, too.

Then the warning call sounded and they all scattered under the Russian Sagebrush. A squirrel ran to the dirt bath area and frantically dug further under the small rocks – like he knew he had buried his stash of stolen bird seed there somewhere! Then he frantically covered it all up again to hide his exploits and scantered away.

The birds immediately came back and started their scratching and bathing all over again. Then the squirrel came back to scare the birds away again and dug some more. This time he was letting the dirt fly everywhere as he dug frantically around the rocks again. The seed had to be there somewhere!

Then he reversed his digging one more time and took off. The birds came back and pecked and scratched – must have been that bird seed! Then after a few more wing stretches and flying dirt, Dad said it was enough and the family left to continue their morning trek across the land.

My camera was still in the car in the garage. I was afraid that if I moved across the window to go get it that it would spook them so I just watched the entertainment… Tonight my camera is ready. If they decide to go for another bath tomorrow morning, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to get some pictures! Given the look of the spot, it is a favorite one!